Southampton vs Newcastle United match banter!

Posted on November 25th, 2012 | 166 Comments |

Southampton v Newcastle United.
Pardew takes on his Southampton successor.
Venue: St Mary’s Stadium, Southampton.
Date: Sunday, 25th November.
Kick off: 3:00pm
Referee: Martin Atkinson.
UK TV: None.

Hello, good afternoon and welcome to our “match banter” feature for this afternoon’s game at St Mary’s Stadium.

Two weeks after West Ham, we see Alan Pardew returning to another one of his former clubs, who he managed in League One, helping them to to win the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy aka the “Paint Pot,” but norrowly missing out on the League One playoff places before he was sacked under mysterious circumstances by the club’s Chairman, Nicola Cortese. Will Pardew have his revenge? We shall see!

One thing’s for sure is that Pardew will be desperate to pull the Magpies out of their recent mini slump, where they have only picked up one Premiership point in their last three games. But for in depth look forward to the game, with all the form guides, team news, tactical speculation, what the managers have been saying and more, you can check out my extensive match preview.

For now, I will get on with reminding you that I shall posting the teamsheets on here when they become available. This game will not be broadcast live in the UK, but fear not as I will also be posting some online links for those of you who can’t get it on the boob tube, as well as posting highlights and possibly a video of the whole match if / when one becomes available.

Howay the Lads!

Team sheets.

Southampton (4-2-3-1): Paulo Gazzaniga (G), Nathaniel Clyne, Jose Fonte, Maya Yoshida, Luke Shaw; Morgan Schneiderlin, Jack Cork; Jason Puncheon, Adam Lallana (C), Gaston Ramírez, Rickie Lambert.

Subs: Kelvin Davis, Jos Hooiveld, Steven Davis, James Ward-Prowse, Emmanuel Mayuka, Guly Do Prado, Jay Rodriguez.

Newcastle United (4-4-2): Tim Krul (G), Danny Simpson, Mike Williamson, Steven Taylor, Davide Santon, Jonas Gutierrez (C), Vurnon Anita, Cheick Tiote, Shane Ferguson, Demba Ba, Papiss Cisse.

Subs: Steve Harper (G), James Tavernier, James Perch, Gael Bigirimana, Sylvain Marveaux, Sammy Ameobi, Nile Ranger.

Poll

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166 Responses

  1. Feeling really sorry for the team…they must be shattered after the shift they put in Thursday night.
    zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

  3. sirjasontoon says:
    November 25, 2012 at 2:09 pm

    “Feeling really sorry for the team…they must be shattered after the shift they put in Thursday night.”

    I don’t understand it SJT. Other teams have to do it if they want to be in Europe. Messi has to play 60 games a season and he isn’t the only one. Perhaps they thought they could compete in Europe without spending anything on players because they’ve invented a new way to run a club?

  4. I craved European football and want a trophy badly even the milk cup would do!
    Hearing Pardew talk Europe down and all the cups is just proper disappointing….nobody wanted miracles in the transfer window just sensible buys that can add some depth and strength in key areas.
    I have always said I don’t want extravagant signings just players that bring something to the party,can play reasonably good attacking football,work hard and at least attempt to win something.

  5. sirjasontoon says:
    November 25, 2012 at 2:34 pm

    “I craved European football and want a trophy badly even the milk cup would do!”

    Bring back the Texaco Cup! We won that bastad back to back when I was a bairn, then they friggin’ well stopped it.

  14. Phisix says:
    November 25, 2012 at 3:10 pm

    “Ian Dowies voice puts me to sleep.”

    His contorted face in the dugout used to give me nightmares Phisix.

  17. sammy d says:

    first row sports link one is good

    I got the Liverpool Swansea game when I clicked on that one?

  20. Thanks for the link sammyd ive got it now. It’s a little bit better than the one I was watching

  25. It was coming. It is official, we are rubbish and we are going down this season. How far down the leagues can we go in 8 years?

  27. Yeah that was coming. They’re all over us. They look a much better side too. We arn’t creating any chances without HBA as expected.

  28. We shouldnt have to need Benny to create chances and a way to actually win. Teams with no flair players have more chances than we do.

  32. Commentator just said it’s way too early in the season to blame fatigue. Pardew will though, or is it Ben Arfa missing today the excuse.

  33. It’s him, he is not a Premiership manager. He tactics are rubbish and he makes our few stars look basic.

  34. Well he won’t make it to December at this rate. Then we’ll be laughed at for giving him such a long contract and sacking him. Then Ron Atkinson will take over on an initial six week contract.

  38. Jimbob says:
    November 25, 2012 at 3:45 pm

    “Then Ron Atkinson will take over on an initial six week contract.”

    Oh Christ I never thought of Big Ron, Jimbob! Hopefully Kinnear’s fighting fit again.

  41. We are just a bunch of individuals, almost none of whom is playing as a team. There is no cohesion, no link-up play and no intelligence. It looks like we need a complete makeover starting with Alan Pardew. If he was a player, he would be dropped. Give someone else a go.

  42. long time since i posted but time for my 2 peneth ( or wotefa )

    yes we overachieved last season and maybe were one or even two years ahead of the masterplan ( we hear about 5 year plans ) but this last month or so has been a reality check.

    players looking shadows of themselves and form been shocking..

    I don’t know if its pards to blame but i doubt it could be so simple. i reckon the lack of any real spending must have let a few miffed. the injuries are mounting and the squad is thread bare.

    i hope we do an everton and pull a rabbit out the hat in january and kick on second half the season

    hwtl

  43. Every week I believe we are going to play how we should be but every game I get let down. You guys looking forward to this next 8 years?

  45. can anyone tell me how to go about buying Newcastle v reading tickets in Jan, i live in Ireland and finding it very hard to get good tickets near the half way line close to the pitch.
    also is there any cheap places to stay near the stadium?
    id really appreciate any help. thanks

  46. Pardew in his transformation of Jonas has destroyed him.
    His Purchases Anita, useless. Marveaux, Amalfitano do not play meaning he is tacitly admitting he got them wrong.

    People cry that we did not buy players well Pardew spent too much time during the transfer window focussing on a dead goat Andy Carroll while players like Michu were slipping under our radar.

  59. Watched the Pool vs Swansea game, great first half the fizzled out, though both sides played an entertaining game.
    With Swansea edging possession, but Pool looking the more likely to score, now watching Chelsea vs Citeh, with a taped delay Newcastle game to follow.
    Later.

  61. Just caought the term, Jesus as i posted the above, hope that doesn’t mean what i think it does.

  66. what happened to krul?,,, frankensteins monster erm i mean fraser forster would have kepped him on his toes more than ol’ man harps and maybe not good enough rob elliot

  67. But on the other hand, i really dont give a damn at this stage, as it may be the wakeup call needed to inform the two football genius’s, all is not well and the learning curve continues.

  69. Two goals down, getting smashed and that gray haired tw@t still hasnt changed any tactics or put Marv on.

    He has been found out now. We lucked out last season with his tactics but he still sticks with 4-4-2.

  71. Phisix says:
    November 25, 2012 at 4:21 pm

    “Two goals down, getting smashed and that gray haired tw@t still hasnt changed any tactics or put Marv on.”

    He can hear you Phisix.

  81. think krul and mignolet misunderstood the concept of movember and thought it was who can give the most goals to charity.

  85. Seriously though. If we lose on Wednesday, which seems likely. Get yourself some odds on Pardew not being here by next weekend.

  86. Anyone with slight knowledge of football team tactics is better than our old silver gimp, Worky.

    My football manager skills are better than his.

  87. Good Jimbob, he has been shown to be the master tactition he really is. The Art of using your mouth.

    Wait for the big boo’s after the game and anyone want to put on a bet on Pardew saying Southampton were the better team after the game?

  89. It’ll be the Thursday thing Phisix, players missing etc. Just like Souness used to do, blame everyone but himself.

    Roader had the worst injury crisis I can remember when he was here, and not once did he blame that.

  90. Glossed 2 door frames it was more exciting than the sh@t I was watching in the 1st half.
    Looking forward to Partridges excuses.

  92. I read something this week that Pardew personally works on the defensive side of the game 4 days a week. By the looks of it he should cut back to a maximum of 1 day. We have been a shambles defensively today.

  97. had a go at krul but to be fair we could of shipped 5+ easy today goal frame and him saving an embarrassment

  99. He did Phisix, and he had Bramble in the side too! Only got knocked out in the later stages by a very good AZ side on away goals.

  102. Worky: it’s a pity you are not writing match reports. You could have just recycled the Swansea one and changed the goalscorers.

    I mean, takes off Ferguson at half time – panics – chases the game – leaving wide gaps at the back – no shape – Ba and Cisse hardly get a touch – adds another winger – we lose.

  103. Needs to buy in Jan or relegation fight on hands. Been beat off the three newly promoted teams in recent weeks where we should have been looking at at least 7 points. Poor show!

  104. GS says:
    November 25, 2012 at 4:55 pm

    “Worky: it’s a pity you are not writing match reports. You could have just recycled the Swansea one and changed the goalscorers.”

    It did remind me of the Swansea game quite alot GS.

  105. @jimbob

    we went out because s taylor gave away a needless handball penalty in the home leg when we were 4-1 up. az won the return leg 2-0 and went through on away goals.

    taylor still has not eradicated this from his game. could have been booked again today for leading with his arm.

    he is nowhere near as good as he thinks he is. bramble and now willo have always been easy targets. we should have shipped taylor ages ago in my opinion.

  106. @Phisix #100

    like i said the other day, he’ll blame the defeat by taking credit for the excellent job he did at southampton.

    bloke’s a knob.

  107. This is sad, fifth place last year, was I dreaming???? Don’t agree with this “we are tired, too many games crap”. The past few weeks we have seen the whole squad playing and none of them could score in a brothel.

  108. What a terrible performance. As the weeks go by I get more and more astonished by how poor we have been. We have had one game where we played well, ALL season. (Bordeaux) That is mind-blowing, considering we do have some very good players in our side.

    I can’t understand Pardew’s constant insistence with playing a 4-4-2. Has he not been shown in EVERY SINGLE GAME that our players don’t at all fit into that formation. No possession, no link up with the strikers, and Ba and Cisse never complete one pass to each other.

    Then, on top of that, Pardew refuses to drop, in my opinion, our worst player so far this season, Jonas. He subs out Anita today who was clearly our best player today, and leaves Guti on the whole game, when he contributed ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.

    Sad part is I just get more and more depressed with each game I watch. Reminds me of relegation season a few years ago.

  109. Stewpot, yeah I remember that mate. I still think Roeder was harshly dealt with back then considering the injury problems he had. We literally had our whole first team out at one point. But I still don’t remember him using that as an excuse. Pardew used Cisse missing as an excuse last week ffs.

  110. He’ll mention something about coming back to Southampton after the wonderful job he did there etc. He’ll say something about being flat, and Thursdays game causing fatigue. HBA missing and Cabaye being out till new year.

    Also, that we’re Newcastle United we don’t have the same money as Chelsea, Man City and Man Utd so we can’t compete.

    We can’t even compete with the bottom six at the moment.

  111. can’t wait for the Barca game later. Will be nice to see some real football. A team that can string more than two passes together without tripping over the ball and giving it away.

  112. f***in’ terrible!!!, starting to look every bit as bad, if not worse, than our relegation season.
    no plan, no fight, no heart, devoid of any ideas, apart from hitting the ball long, to two front men, who just cannot work together.
    every man and his dog are saying the same thing, about the demba’s upfront, even the commentators, were saying they dont work together.
    the only person who seems oblivious to this, is pardiNOla.

    has he not got the aristotle to drop one of them, for the fear of huffing the other?
    it’s p*** weak management, if that’s the case!

    we never looked like getting back into it, and the substitutions brought little or no change, as usual.
    it’s just so depressing, because this has been a long time in the making, you could go as far back as swansea away or further back, to see that major reinforcements were required.

    people like myself and jimbob, said towards last season, that his fifth place finish, would be his absolute zenith, and then the weight of expectation, coupled with his lack of management ability, would see him bottom out, to this absolute nadir, he is now getting towards.

  114. Correct me if I am wrong, but since pardo got his safe 8 year contract wee have been in free fall. Can’t even sack the wan**r.

  115. nitoon: “Correct me if I am wrong, but since pardo got his safe 8 year contract wee have been in free fall.”

    one win in eight games since

  116. TROJAN RECORDS 73 says:
    November 25, 2012 at 5:11 pm

    “because this has been a long time in the making, you could go as far back as swansea away or further back, to see that major reinforcements were required.”

    It goes back to when Hughton was sacked Trojan.

  117. It is that old farm thing we were talking about the other night worky. I can’t see a way out of it with Fat Ash and co in charge. All we can do is watch and weep

  118. Normally I would say that when you are being chased by a bear you don’t have to outrun the bear you only have to outrun the man next to you. Unfortunately, we are probably playing the worst football in the Premier League at the moment and our recent results reflect that. You would think there would be 3 teams worse than us (thus my bear metaphor) but there aren’t at the moment.

    What can we do though? I don’t see Ashley sacking Pardew any time soon. We have no defensive options and our flair players are injured.

    Will he spend in January given that he only dips into his pocket if there is a “deal” to be had. Who is available anyway?

    And how many PURPLES did we have on the field today Dekka, maybe you might want to rethink that strategy?

  119. nitoon says:
    November 25, 2012 at 5:13 pm

    “Correct me if I am wrong, but since pardo got his safe 8 year contract wee have been in free fall. Can’t even sack the wan**r.”

    That 8 year contract thing was BS nitoon. It was actually for Ashley and the cheap arse salary he pays to Pardew in case other clubs come sniffing around for the managerial maestro. Do you really think he’ll have to pay Pardew an 8 year salary if he sacks him? On the other hand he (Ashley) would want a large payout if anyone comes in for him. I don’t think that Abramovich is holding out for him now though.

  121. the 8 year contract was just a bit of spin. what’s sad is that pardew himself believed it was credible and went on the radio and tv saying it was about longevity and forward thinking and compared himself to wenger and fergie.

    the bloke’s a deluded knob

  122. Cashley shud ov sacked him weeks ago..we might ov stood a chance ov getting Rafa Benitez in that way…then again maybe not…

  124. stewpot says:
    November 25, 2012 at 5:37 pm

    “the 8 year contract was just a bit of spin. what’s sad is that pardew himself believed it was credible and went on the radio and tv saying it was about longevity and forward thinking and compared himself to wenger and fergie.”

    Wenger’s contract runs out in 2014, and Fergie’s been on a one year rolling contract since the mid 2000s so that isn’t really a comparison. They’ve been at their clubs for a long time because of other reasons.

  126. Worky and TR73 @116: I know you 2 have always pointed out Pardew’s shortcomings but there were signs last season that he might know what he was doing:

    – we went on a long unbeaten run at the beginning of the season and strung wins together at the end of the season.

    – we played well against some teams that usually thrash us, Liverpool, Man U, Chelsea.

    – we won ugly.

    – we finished 5th.

    – I actually think he did a pretty good job of reintroducing Ben Arfa into the team after such a serious injury and playing a settled line up.

    Where has that manager gone, or was he just lucky to inherit a good set of players with a strong bond from Hughton?

  127. @worky

    i was paraphrasing pardew. he was trying to make the case that success is only achieved with longevity/consistency i.e. a manager being at a club for an extended period of time and citing his 8 year contract as way of achieving this.

    not my opinion.

  128. AP is incapable of motivating this squad. I fear we will not “pull an Everton”. EFC’s squad has great application and belief in their manager. They don’t want to be responsible for his embarrassment/downfall. Our players don’t give 2 s#!ts about AP. You see it at the start of games. It goes back at least to last season when he helped ran out Barton & Nolan, antagonized HBA in the media (and didn’t play him until injury forced his hand), could find no way to keep Ba & Cisse happy and our form dipped late. I don’t blame the players given that their manager is constantly calling them out publicly and subscribes to self-help motivational speaker bs. Plus after our florescence in the third quarter of last season, homeboy goes right back to static, percentage-based, timid counterattack/long ball tactics. With predictable results.

    This isn’t that hard. Fire him now before the season is too far gone and get someone in who can motivate, not least by using the players in a way that suits them and that they can believe in.

    If we continue with him, we are in for a 25-game tooth & nail dogfight to secure 26 points & survival. The EL campaign will have to be scrapped for total concentration on avoiding relegation. As it is, our first knock-out opponent will simply knock us out anyway…

  129. aye worky, you could also look at it in that way, chris should never have been sacked, they should have gave him the time he needed.
    it was an insult to bring that knobhead to newcastle, under the premise he was better than hughton.
    it just proves they wanted a todying stooge, who they knew from the london roulette tables, to do their bidding.
    one thing i’m consistant in, is my opposition to pardew’s appointment.
    i have never supported the bloke from day one, and i never will, because he is all wrong for us.

  131. GS-it was in that early run that, to be honest, AP and the squad flattered to deceive. We won/didn’t lose a handy few of those on pure luck or bad calls by the ref-a perfectly good penalty not given to Wolves when we were at their place jumps right to mind. We won that game 2-1 after absorbing a battering in the second half.

    If you eliminate that run AP’s win % at the club is very pedestrian to below average at this point.

  132. GS says:
    November 25, 2012 at 6:01 pm

    GS, do you remember that list of previous “manager of the season” winners I posted? Lots of managers can have a 1 good season, but you have to look at things over the longer term, discount luck and look at a manager’s character, decisionmaking and tactics over time as reality catches up in the end. Of course, results are everyting in the long term, but they can be a distraction in the short term and lead to poor decisionmaking.

  134. Worky: I remember your list of managers. I am pointing out that there were signs that we could perform well and had the makings of a good team. I always try to be optimistic about NUFC and am sometimes blind to our shortcomings (not saying you, TR73 and Tunyc are not optimistic).

    You would think Pardew’s peers would be able to judge a half decent managerial performance but as your list proves, apparently not.

    The problem with the downward spiral we are in is that it usually turns into a death spiral. What can we do though, the 3 wise men are proving once again that a football team is not a casino.

    What are the NUFC coaches doing though? What is Carver doing? Does Pardew rule with an iron fist and allow no input?

  135. Even from last season I was one of the only voices critical of Pardew telling everyone he does not know what tactics are and plays the same players and bollocks we see now. If not for individual brilliance from Ba and then Cisse he would have been sacked long ago.

    There is no lack of options at SJP. We are not fighting the top four but have a squad capable of competing with everyone else outside the big four. We don’t however have a capable manager.

    Pardew is just bollocks, has been and will always be bollocks. He said we need a response last week, we lost 2-1, he said we need a response this weekend we lose 2-0. If that is how we respond then things are not looking good. We played better under big Sam, better under Souness, better under Kinnear. I’m Sorry but Pardew has to be the most tactically void, ill prepared manager I have seen.

    He fell over himself in the summer slavishly lavishing flattering appraisals of Andy Carroll talking the fans into a frenzy about bringing him home oblivious to areas that need real players and not fantasies.

    His players Marveaux, Amalfitano cannot even get into the side ahead of Ameobi, Fergie, Bigirimana, an injured Jonas and Cisse. Why did he buy them?

    No Tactics
    No foresight
    poor purchases

    Pardew Ooooot!

  136. Anyone know what the point of Jonas is ? He never had an end product in terms of goals or assists. Now he provides literally nothing as an attacking force at all. He never runs at the defence anymore and never makes anything but the most basic of backward passes. Even his defensive work seems to have dropped off compared to last season.

  137. tunyc says:
    November 25, 2012 at 6:29 pm

    “Can’t say I’m completely surprised to see the team run by CH above us in the table.”

    Hughton explored his options at the beginning of the season with Norwich and he took a hit for it. But now he knows what and who he is working with and it was probably for the best in the long term. That’s the kind of thing which impressed me about him when he was here amongst other things. He’s a long term thinker and that’s very important in leadership.

  138. Michael12 says:
    November 25, 2012 at 7:02 pm

    “Even from last season I was one of the only voices critical of Pardew telling everyone he does not know what tactics are and plays the same players and bollocks we see now.”

    I’ll bet you haven’t received as much hate mail and abusive comments as I have about it though Michael :-)

  139. We can’t wallow in misery though. Ashley can’t be so stupid as to let his investment suffer if we have a couple more losses.

    Even in the relegation year we got Nolan and Taylor in January and he gave the fans what they wanted by appointing Shearer (although I think he sold N’Zog and Shearer hired the perennial loser Dowey).

  140. @GS

    nolan and taylor didn’t start playing until we were in the championship.

    shearer was just another big mistake in this shocking ashley era.

    i have been consistent on pardew since day one. didn’t like him, didn’t want him, knew he was tactically inept, wasn’t fooled by 5th.

  142. stewpot says:
    November 25, 2012 at 7:28 pm

    “@GS

    nolan and taylor didn’t start playing until we were in the championship.”

    stewpot, it was when he was moved forward a bit that he started to play, though it was at the same time. That was Hughton exploring his options again as I mentioned above. It was also like that when he moved Barton, and subsequently Benny over to the right hand side. In the case of Benny it may have seemed counterintuitive, but playing him on his “wrong” side actually opens out the pitch to him a bit, and subsequently proved to be a wise move when he recovered from his injury woes.

  143. @Worky: I did get my fair share. We got results last season but I was never convinced by the performance.

    @stewpot I too was never fooled by him and 5th. His one size fits all approach has always bothered me.

    When all fit we play the exact same 11 as last season. That is just unimaginative from him. Pardew is buying players but just acknowledging they are crap by not even selecting them for the bench.

  144. @gs

    yes, but aside from getting himself sent-off against everton he did f-all.

    i meant they didn’t start performing until the championship season and added very little to the fight against relegation.

  145. @worky

    what the championship season did was afford hughton a chance to try things like that. let’s not forget that it was also good for jonas, colo and enrique. by the time we returned the likes of nolan, taylor, colo and enrique were transformed. this was all to hughton’s credit and made his dismissal even more unfortunate.

  146. Stewpot: Ashley still signed him in the hope of saving the season. Whether he performed or not is a different thing. But that season was a disaster all round, we have a much better chance to rescue this season.

  147. stewpot says:
    November 25, 2012 at 7:54 pm

    “@worky

    what the championship season did was afford hughton a chance to try things like that.”

    Aye Stewpot, but he didn’t get ben Arfa until we were in the Premiership.

  148. @worky

    true, and even then, not for very long.

    @GD

    i suppose the point i’m trying to make is that even if we do invest in january there’s no guarantee that those signings will gel immediately… it’s ridiculous that we’re even discussing it, as has been mentioned a lot lately, it should have happened in the summer.

  149. Take ba, tiote cabaye, hba and krul out of squad and we are a top 8 championship team at best. Too much mediocrity and a lot of luck that we carried last season has run out! Needs a change of something or we are fighting the qprs and readings of this league to stay up.

  151. Had to wait to post as i was watching a delayed broadcast.
    Awful performance, we started out like gangbusters in the first ten minutes, then it all went downhill.
    Poor decisions by the ref., mostly in our favor, there were questionable penalties claims denied.
    They hit the bar three times and had a good goal disallowed.
    We were badly outplayed by a newly promoted side from the bottom three, that about tells the story.
    Who played well, Santon!
    The rest, dont ask !

    Michael 12
    I
    Sez
    I was one of the only voices criticising Pardew…..

    Erm! i think not Michael, there were a number of us.
    Who had to deal with the, “how can you say he’s bad, yet finished in 5th place” crowd, who by the way, have been fairly quiet lately.

    Not to worry, it’s early in the season and Ashley, has had to go through a sphincter tightening experience to get his attention.

    To realise he haven’t discovered a new method of operating a top side on the cheap and hiring yes men has it’s problems.

    After all you wouldn’t hire a Turf Accountant to take care of your taxes would you, or an ex player with a questionable resume, even one with no experience at all while facing relegation ?
    Ooops ! seems he’s already, done done that.

    One wonders at the decissions of successful buisinessmen, when it comes to operating a professional multi-million pound sports buisiness.
    Who though knowing little about it, decide it’s like any other business and with a bit of on the job training can run it as good if not better than anyone.
    Bit of ego i’d say?

    But after any number of screw-ups, it should at sometime become apparent, that it takes people with knowledge and a track record.
    That includes a GM and a manager.
    The Fenway group figured that out in one season, firing both Comoli and Dalglish.

    Soh ! Will he fire Pardew, hmmm! possibly not yet, he will have to realise, like the year of relegation, when he is in a position of extremis.
    Where by doing nothing, the side will be once again be relegated, costing him the fruits of EPL membership with it’s continual, enormous increasing revenues.

    Which makes it a good bet, we will receive some reinforcements, this approaching window.
    After all following to-days pathetic experience, the writing’s on the wall , for all to see.
    Regardless of what excuses Pardew makes.

  153. chuck says:
    November 25, 2012 at 3:55 pm

    “sphincter tightening”

    Chuck, you’ve mentioned “sphincter tightening” a hell of alot recently. Are you having problems down there?

  154. hardiechar says:
    November 25, 2012 at 9:23 pm

    “Worky- its OK zsacking pardew but who do bring in?”

    hardiechar, Jimbob made a joke earlier about sacking Ashley and Llambias sacking Pardew after giving him his 8 year contract and bringing in “Big Ron” on a six week contract instead, but it really wouldn’t shock me anymore if they did!

    As you may have guessed if you read any of my comments above, I wouldn’t have sacked Chris Hughton not because of league positions or winning or losing a few games but because of what he was doing in the long term, what he did with players like Nolan, Barton and Ben Arfa, and transforming our scouting after Wise by bringing in Graham Carr and so on…

    Now we have, I fear that we would have problems because Ashley will only pay Championship wages, Llambias has a lousy reputation and I couldn’t see any manager with a good reputation wanting to work for Laurel and Hardy without a ridiculous contract. As Chuck will probably tell you, I’m a Michael Laudrup fan for several reasons, but I’d bet a hell of alot that we’d never get him.

  155. out of interest worky, what was hughton’s record the season he was sacked compared to pardew’s this season?

    i seem to remember some hot air from ashley about removing hughton due to a perceived downward trend?

  156. stewpot says:
    November 25, 2012 at 9:50 pm

    “out of interest worky, what was hughton’s record the season he was sacked compared to pardew’s this season?

    i seem to remember some hot air from ashley about removing hughton due to a perceived downward trend?”

    Aye but as Llambias revealed in the Llambiasgate tapes, the real reason he sacked him was because he was “f*cking horrible” enough for his tastes.

    We were 11th, we were erratic and we’d lost a couple of games when he was sacked, but that wasn’t the crux of my my argument, or perhaps it was?

    When teams are recovering from a big shock or decline as we were after relegtion, they are often erratic before they are good. Even Ferguson’s Manchester United was erratic and there were calls for him to be sacked at one stage in his early days.

  158. @worky

    i know we’d lost to wba and heavily at bolton but don’t misunderstand. i’m totally in agreement that hughton’s team was a work in progress. it may not have worked out but the decent thing would have been to allow him more time.

  159. a certain ex-Barcelona coach is available :)

    Chuck, you have been against Pardew from day one and have always stuck to your guns.

    I have always tried to give him the benefit of the doubt, especially since I really didn’t know much about him before we hired him (and I got an education about him on here).

    There were times when it seemed like he may have some managerial ability – Man U, Liverpool and Chelsea last year. Now he is making the same mistakes over and over.

    I am not running away just because I tried to defend Pardoo-doo (is that a new name???) in the past. I have learned a few things as the weeks and months have gone by. We will certainly see in the next few months whether he has it in him to turn this around. You and Worky will surely say no, it is a forgone conclusion.

    Chuck always made contructive suggestions of who to get instead of Pardew and I acknowledge that. I wish Andymac would come on even for a cameo appearance because he just plain hated Pardwho. It would be funny to watch his head explode.

  160. Chuck, I am not necessarily agreeing with your views on who would make the best manager, because combined they have about as much in their trophy cabinet as NUFC.

  161. And I do know that I am making a bit of a false argument about certain managers not having won trophies. That doesn’t happen nowadays unless you are at a Champions League club and there are very few coaches who create dynasties, in whatever sport.

  162. GS
    I would have (and the archives reflect it), got Steve Clarke.
    Or for that matter any of the Dutch masters, i see
    that Jol, who i think would be a good choice, has received an additional one year extension offer to his present contract at Fulham.
    Wouldn’t mind him.
    But i’m afraid looking at who Ashley hires, Llambias & Pardew, question is, has he realized by now, as Fenway management did and most well run clubs already are aware of, it takes a good GM and a manager who can work to-gether in order to have a sucessful club.
    But seems W/Brom did ok, Liverpool are a side rebuilding following a disasterous spending spree.
    Swansea, got themselves a good guy, Hughton is doing better than we are with a no name team, there are good managers out there as long as you ignore the same old re-treads.
    And i really dont know what Ashley pays, but if it’s reasonable, guys will be lining, up resume’s in hand.
    But you usually get what you pay for.
    Dont expect to see Gus Hiddink, Morinho or Guardiola, passing through Newcastle airport any time soon, but there’s the possibility we could replace our manager, with the eight year contract, prior to having eight months on it, if the situation gets dire enough.
    And if Ashley is smart he should be getting his ducks lined up, NOW !

  163. Of course we can also look beyond the UK, there are good managers on the continent in France ,Spain, Italy, Holland, Germany, you name it, many who would be more than willing to make the move to the EPL.

  165. Oh ! i forgot to mention Martinez at Wigan, but thats the problem.
    Both he Martinez and Dave Whelan have a mutual admiration thing going but we know there’s no love lost between Whelan and Ashley.
    But i will predict that some time in the future Martinez will manage one of the top clubs.

  166. chuck-that’s not really much of a prediction about Martinez. He damn near got the LFC job last time around. I’d be surprised if he hasn’t entered Abramovich’s mind.

    GS-I remember that January very differently. We sold Zog for 4M and Ryan “Wigan squad player” Taylor. Given left for a few million to warm the bench at City. We brought in Nolan at his absolute professional nadir. It felt like preparation for the championship…